This invention relates generally to the field of refuse handling apparatus and methods. In a further and more specific aspect, the invention concerns an apparatus and method for storing and temporarily relocating a trash container.
The word “trash” refers to solid waste, garbage, refuse, recyclables or other physical objects and material that is unwanted by the person in possession. The phrase “trash container” means a structure enclosing a space that may be filled with trash, also referred to as a trash bin, refuse collection body, or similar terms. One particular type of a trash container is referred to as a trash “compactor” comprising a body that includes means for forcing loose refuse or trash into a smaller volume of greater density. The term “trash container” includes a standard (non-compaction) container and a compactor type of container. Typically, a trash compactor includes the container and a moving element, such as a piston, for compressing the loose refuse within the container; the piston may be operated by hydraulic fluid under pressure. The hydraulic pressure is produced by a power source such as an electrically operated motor that actuates a hydraulic pump so as to create a high pressure hydraulic fluid. Such power sources for compactor operation are well-known in the art.
In typical commercial refuse collection systems the compactor unit is adapted to be mounted on and transported by a suitable truck that can load and unload the compactor unit. In a typical collection cycle, a compactor unit that is filled to capacity will be loaded onto a truck where the compacted refuse is carried to a suitable refuse collection area, sometimes referred to as a garbage dump, where refuse is deposited and the emptied compactor unit may be taken back to the site where it was picked up or to another site in the event that a different truck had already placed an empty compactor unit at the pick-up site.
Efficient refuse collection requires that the trash container be large enough so as to make each vehicle trip efficient while still staying within the confines of the size of truck bodies that may be permitted on public thoroughfares. The word “thoroughfare” means an alley, street, roadway or other private or public surface for carrying motor vehicle traffic; the term ‘thoroughfare level’ means an area adjacent a thoroughfare that is at the same level as the thoroughfare and excludes areas below the thoroughfare level, such as a pit within or adjacent the thoroughfare. Thus, a typical trash container of the compactor type may have a width of approximately 10 feet, a height of 10 feet, and a length of between 15 and 25 feet.
The word “system” has its ordinary dictionary definition in this patent: a regularly interacting or interdependent group of items. In the context of the present invention, the system may comprise a trash container, a permanent source of hydraulic pressure, and in at least one of the embodiments of the invention, an opening in a building, including an apparatus for movably supporting a trash container from a storage position to a loading/unloading or temporary “relocated” position.
In urban areas, many city blocks include an alley between two rows of commercial or office buildings that are immediately adjacent the alley providing access to allow moving goods and equipment into and out of a building including, but not limited to, trash. Depending upon the density of the area, many of the buildings may be multi-storied and it is desirable to utilize as large a trash container as laws and regulations will allow because of the volume of trash and the desire to reduce transportation costs to the refuse collection area. Moreover, in many urban areas where alleys exist, the alleys are relatively narrow in width given current vehicle sizes because the alleys were constructed many years ago when vehicle sizes were smaller.
Because of the volume of refuse, and the size of an alley, it is highly desirable that refuse containers be proscribed from storage in any portion of the alley because such presence further creates congestion and inefficiency in collecting refuse as well as accommodating other service vendors who require ingress and egress to the building through the alley. It is also desirable to use a compactor type of refuse container so as to accommodate a large volume of trash by forcibly compressing loose trash into compact high density trash within the container. Accordingly, there is typically provided a high pressure hydraulic system as a source for producing compaction. It is an object of this invention in at least one of its embodiments to utilize the same high pressure source of hydraulic fluid for operating the compactor unit for the power required to move the apparatus for storing and temporarily relocating the compactor unit to facilitate loading/unloading on and from a transport vehicle.
Even in locations where congestion is not as great as in concentrated urban areas, or in areas where alleys are not common, for example in industrial parks, shopping malls, or other commercial or government facilities, it may be desirable to utilize standard or compaction type trash containers of substantial size and for aesthetic reasons, it may be desirable to locate the trash container where its presence is unobtrusive. In such applications, it is still desirable that the large compactor type of trash container be stored in an out-of-the-way location but can be repositioned or relocated to a second location within an alley, street, roadway, or thoroughfare where there is ready, though temporary, access for loading the container onto a refuse collection vehicle as previously described. By enabling the loading/unloading of the trash container in a public thoroughfare, where vehicle access is readily available, the trash depositor need not provide as much space on its private property as would be necessary for maneuvering a large vehicle into loading/unloading position.
It should be understood that the trash compactor units of the rough size described above, when fully loaded, may weigh many tons depending upon the type of refuse that is being collected and whether the container is a standard or compaction type of container. Thus, moving the trash container from a storage location where it is being filled over a period of time, to a loading position that provides ready access to the trash container transport vehicle, is no small task.
In summary, the apparatus and method of the present invention comprises an out-of-way storage location for receiving a trash container during periods of storage, a source of power, and a storage and relocation apparatus supporting the trash container that is moveable from the storage location to a location providing ready access for loading onto, and unloading from, a transportation vehicle.